An increasing number of state and national interconnection standards are requiring Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) to include grid-support functionality. These capabilities, along with the growing number of communications-enabled DERs, make it possible for 3rd party aggregators to provide a range of high-level grid services such as voltage regulation, frequency regulation, and contingency reserves. The increasing number of these DER impact grid bulk system reliability as grid inertia and governor control are displaced and frequency deviations from renewable energy (RE) variability become increasingly more common, making bulk system reliability much more challenging to maintain. This can result in compromises to frequency response, voltage stability, and other metrics of grid reliability. Due to the sheer number of DERs and their small sizes, it is not practical for bulk system operators to optimize and control individual DERs.
Electrical grid operators are concerned about the consequences to their grid operations from increasingly higher penetrations of DERs, especially intermittent RE resources, such as solar photovoltaic and wind energy. Therefore, instituting frequency response reserves with DERs in accordance with utility, Independent System Operator (ISO)/Regional Transmission Organization (RTO), and NERC requirements are critical for future grid resiliency.
There is a need for systems and methods that can support high standards of grid reliability, while accommodating increasing penetrations of DERs on the grid.